Everton hires Dyche as manager in bid to avoid relegation

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Everton have turned to Sean Dyche in their battle to survive in the Premier League.

The former Burnley manager was signed by Everton on Monday to replace Frank Lampard and has signed a two-and-a-half-year deal.

Dyche’s immediate priority is to avoid relegation after taking over a club second from bottom and at risk of ending his 69-year stint in English football’s top flight.

“This squad has quality. But we have to make them shine,” Dyche said in the club’s announcement. “That is the task of me and my employees.”

It’s Dyche’s first job since he was sacked by Burnley last April. The 51-year-old manager spent almost 10 years with the Lancashire club and guided them to Premier League promotion in 2016.

Under Dyche, Burnley qualified for the Europa League in 2018 and remained in the premier league of English football until last season.

Dyche’s first game in charge comes against leaders Arsenal at Goodison Park on Saturday.

“We want to change the shape of this club in the future, transform it in our style but in a way that we can win,” he said. “That’s the job ahead of us – make sure we build up tactically and technically, give the players organization, give them the freedom to play, walk and enjoy their football because it’s brilliant when the team is with a Smile plays but we gotta win.”

Dyche had been repeatedly linked with the Everton job in the past but appeared to be missing out on former Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa, who was the favorite to succeed Lampard.

However, it emerged on Friday that Bielsa would not be taking up the position after allegedly turning down the job.

That left Dyche the prime candidate to take over the storied club, which have won nine top-flight league titles but not a major trophy since winning the FA Cup in 1995.

Under Lampard, Everton have lost 11 of their last 14 games in all competitions this season, winning just one in that run.

Lampard was sacked a week ago after the 2-0 loss to fellow contenders West Ham two days earlier.

Everton have suffered a management hiatus since majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri took over the club in 2016.

Dyche is the latest manager to be given the responsibility of reversing his fortunes following the appointments of Ronald Koeman, Sam Allardyce, Marco Silva, Carlo Ancelotti, Rafa Benitez and Lampard over the past seven years.

With the club set to move to a state-of-the-art new stadium next year, there are fears among fans that Everton could be a second tier side by then.

Dyche represents another strategic shift for a club that has had two Champions League-winning coaches in Ancelotti and Benitez in the last four years.

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James Robson can be found at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

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More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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